LAKELAND — During the four years and four months the late Cornelius L. Henderson served as bishop of the Florida Conference the men and women who worked most closely with him as members of his cabinet of conference leaders collected many memories of the man and minister.

The Rev. Thom Shafer, superintendent of the Jacksonville District, said his most precious memory of Henderson was when the bishop asked him to consider becoming a district superintendent.

"He called me into his office to speak to me," Shafer said. "He asked me [to be a superintendent]…and I said, ‘I’m going to have to pray about this with my wife.’ He said, ‘You and I have to pray.’ "

Shafer said Henderson took his hand, stood him up and then kneeled with him to pray. "The man believed in prayer," he said. "I’ll never forget how we kneeled in his office…and how he invoked the Holy Spirit to reveal what was best for my ministry and my life. After he died, I sat down in that chair, and then I knelt down."

The Rev. Charles Courtoy, director of the conference’s New Church Development and Church Redevelopment office, said he remembers the "very natural way" the bishop related to children. He also recalled how the bishop related to him.

"I have known the bishop for years," Courtoy said, adding he and Henderson served together on the denomination’s general boards.

When Henderson was elected bishop in 1996, Courtoy was in the greeting line. "He reached out and gave me a big hug like I was one of his long lost friends," Courtoy said. "I didn’t even know he remembered me. I still have a picture of that on my desk."

The Rev. Clarke Campbell-Evans, superintendent of the Miami District, said he remembers the bishop for his skills as a pastor.

During a pastoral visit to Newman United Methodist Church in Key West in October 1998, Campbell-Evans and Willie Alexander, the church’s part-time supply pastor, were showing the bishop the damage the historic church had sustained during the recent Hurricane Georges. Instead, Henderson chose to talk to an elderly member of the church whose home had also been damaged by the storm, Campbell-Evans said.

"He was so focused on the elderly man. He stood over him and talked to him," Campbell-Evans said. "All the rest was the trappings of an episcopal visit, but that was the heart of a pastor."

The Rev. Geraldine McClellan, superintendent of the Gainesville District, said the bishop was an inspiration to her in times of struggle. "As a black woman in ministry, I am faced with a lot of adversity, especially in the ministry," she said. "He [Henderson] has been to me — as he as been to many — one who was able to encourage you and to see that light at the end of the tunnel, even when you could see no light."

McClellan said her favorite memory of Henderson is about three weeks old. While talking with Henderson on the phone, she said the bishop told her, "I’m proud of you, and remember, you will always do well."